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All that glitters is gold?
The consumer electronics market worldwide is worth EUR 300 billion annually and
is growing fast. The resultant surge in e-scrap is now being accompanied by inno-
vative recycling technologies and projects, it was announced at the recent E-waste
World Expo in Frankfurt, Germany. This article shines a spotlight on the latest
developments regarding technology metals.
pany, which processes nearly 23
tonnes of metal each month at its site
in Charlotte, North Carolina, can make
a meaningful contribution to the
e-cycling sector.
Almost perfect purity
What makes the difference is a pat-
ented solution specifically developed
to tackle PCBs. It is able to quickly
dissolve the plastics, leaving intact
the gold-bearing integrated circuit
chips, connectors and other precious
metal-bearing components. These
can be refined into ‘premium quality’
fractions with a guaranteed 99.9%
purity. This includes gold, silver,
platinum, palladium as well as
copper.
‘We completely avoid shredding or
using harsh chemicals,’ Jegou
explains, adding that AGR relies
instead on a water-soluble solution
that can be reused and recycled
unlimited times. The process is ‘highly
scalable’ and requires a much lower
capital investment compared to stan-
dard pyro-metallurgical recovery
methods because the equipment
takes up much less space. It also
means that sending scrap overseas for
smelting could become a thing of the
past.
‘Additionally, you have the certainty
that the precious metals are conflict-
free,’ the ceo notes. ‘I really believe
our approach has the power to
change – or, more accurately, disrupt
– the recycling industry.’
‘Approximately 350 000 mobile
phones are disposed of in the US
every day and that is worth US$ 200
million in gold alone,’ Carol Jegou,
ceo of All Green Metal Recycling
(AGR) tells Recycling International.
‘For every million mobile phones that
are recycled, we can recover over 16
tonnes of copper, 327kg of silver,
34kg of gold, and 15kg of palladium,’
Jegou says with a firm nod. ‘In fact,
one tonne of printed circuit boards
(PCBs) is said to contain up to 800
times more gold than a tonne of ore.
But how do we get back 100% of the
metals?’
Recyclers clamour to extract these
valuable metals from the abundant
e-scrap stream but do so ‘with mixed
results’. Jegou is confident her com-
a U T h o R Kirstin Linnenkoper
ining the e-scrap
mountain…
Carol and
Peter Jegou,
founders of All
Green Metal
Recycling.
16-17-18-19-20-21_escrap-frankfurt.indd 16 15-01-20 14:25
